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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242371">Ghost Tickles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/anasticklefics/pseuds/anasticklefics'>anasticklefics</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Tickling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:28:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242371</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/anasticklefics/pseuds/anasticklefics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben walks in on Klaus trying to tickle himself, which leads to them trying to make him tangible enough so that he can tickle Klaus instead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ghost Tickles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings: mentions of Klaus’s drug addiction</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite having had Ben’s ghost by his side for literal years, Klaus sometimes forgot about his presence until he did something so embarrassing he couldn’t even wave it off. And sure, Ben was used to taking off if Klaus was in more… <em>intimate</em> situations. He’d barely seen him during his time with Dave. It had been weird.</p>
<p>Right now, spread out on the bed with his hands on his bare skin, he really really wished his brother would’ve just left. Seriously, he only needed, like, ten minutes.</p>
<p>“Do I wanna know?”</p>
<p>Klaus glared at him as best as he could. “You really gotta learn boundaries, man.”</p>
<p>“How should I know what you’re thinking of doing?” Ben was standing to the side, far enough that Klaus almost couldn’t see him even if he turned his head. “Besides, you could just ask me to leave.”</p>
<p>“Last time I did that you were mad at me for days.”</p>
<p>“That was 15 years ago! I was young and vulnerable.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, I was losing my virginity.”</p>
<p>“I get that <em>now</em>.”</p>
<p>Klaus had to laugh. Almost hysterically so. His hands were still on his midriff, cut off mid-journey. He was desperate. Not ready to lose the contact. “Anyway, can you leave?”</p>
<p>“Only if you tell me what you’re actually doing.”</p>
<p>“Uh, no.”</p>
<p>“Then I’m not going anywhere.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know why I’m even talking to you. I can just make you leave.”</p>
<p>“You know you can’t.”</p>
<p>“Watch me.”</p>
<p>Ben’s mouth twitched. “Don’t strain yourself. Just tell me what you’re doing and I’ll go.”</p>
<p>What the hell was Klaus even supposed to say? “No.”</p>
<p>“Klaus.”</p>
<p>“Can’t.”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“<em>Because</em>-” Klaus sat up, hands still unnaturally positioned on his stomach. “contrary to popular belief, I can actually get embarrassed.”</p>
<p>“Are you embarrassed?”</p>
<p>“Surprisingly so, yes.”</p>
<p>“Well, now I really gotta know.”</p>
<p>Klaus groaned, hands finally dropping so that he could hide his face in them instead. “You’re a pain in my glorious ass, Ben.”</p>
<p>Ben came closer, hovering over the bed. Over him.</p>
<p>Klaus looked up at him. “I was trying to tickle myself, all right?”</p>
<p>Ben blinked. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Because I have no one else to do it for me.”</p>
<p>“Why would you- wait.” Klaus had always wondered if Ben was actually 30 even in death, or if he was still the young boy he’d been when he’d passed. He’d also wondered if his whole presence had been Klaus’ imagination this entire time, but he’d conjured him properly now, so he’d scrapped that thought.</p>
<p>He was pulling the same pondering face he’d used to as a child, making him look naive. Young. “You like it.” It wasn’t a question.</p>
<p>Klaus looked away. “Kinda? I only ever realized it with Dave. I obviously knew I didn’t <em>mind</em> it before, but now… well, I had a craving. One I couldn’t shake. Still haven’t.”</p>
<p>“And you thought trying to tickle yourself would satisfy it?”</p>
<p>“Well, I had to try! What else was I supposed to do? <em>Ask</em> someone?”</p>
<p>“I’d help you, if I could.”</p>
<p>“That’s weird.”</p>
<p>“Not as weird as whatever I walked in on you doing.”</p>
<p>Klaus snorted. He’d only gotten far enough to trace his fingertips over his lower belly before being interrupted. “Thanks for that.”</p>
<p>“No, seriously, I would help you.” Ben crouched down so that their faces were leveled. “But you’d have to help me first.”</p>
<p>Klaus had tried to make Ben tangible again. Really, he had, but he’d never quite gotten the same results as during the apocalypse. Hell, who was he kidding. He’d not even been able to get any results at all.</p>
<p>“You’re not trying enough,” Ben said, interpreting his silence as doubt, which it was. “You haven’t been sober for this long in years. Now’s your chance.”</p>
<p>“You think I’m desperate enough to be tickled that I’ll conjure you up properly?”</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>Klaus blinked. Straightened. “Yeah, you’re right.” A pause, and, “Don’t tell the others.”</p>
<p>“I’m not that mean.”</p>
<p>If he thought he wasn’t still going through severe withdrawals, he was a fool. The urge for tickles was big, but it didn’t overpower his need for drugs, and he spent a lot of time asking Diego to tie him up. Many hours of his days being restrained, or in somebody else’s company. Trying to keep himself together.</p>
<p>You would think it’d be easy to conjure up dead people at this point, but to make them tangible was a whole other thing. But he only needed to do it to Ben, and Ben only needed to be able to touch <em>him</em>. He didn’t know if it made any difference, but it didn’t feel as daunting of a task if he put it like that.</p>
<p>He tried to concentrate. He didn’t even have to make all of him tangible. Just his hands.</p>
<p>He was already shaking.</p>
<p>“What is it about it that you like?” Ben asked. Normally, Klaus would’ve told him to be quiet. That he needed to concentrate. But he knew Ben was aiming for a distraction. Make him forget his fingers itched for something more.</p>
<p>“Not sure,” he said, pausing to breathe. Just breathe and nothing else. “It’s fun, for starters. And physical. With the right person it can lead to even more fun things.” He wiped at his brow, still shaking. “I kind of like the sensation, as weird as that sounds. It’s just so unbearable. It’s weird.”</p>
<p>Ben nodded, listening.</p>
<p>Klaus straightened, eyes never leaving Ben. “And you have to be vulnerable during it. I don’t mind being vulnerable with someone I trust. It makes me feel safe.”</p>
<p>“Do you trust me?”</p>
<p>“Yes.” Klaus grinned. “But I only love you as a brother, man.”</p>
<p>Ben barked out a laugh. “The feeling’s mutual.”</p>
<p>Klaus concentrated. And there Ben was, taking a step closer to him and grabbing his arm.</p>
<p>It had worked.</p>
<p>They smiled at each other like fools. Klaus did wonder how it felt to be dead and yet seem so alive. He wasn’t gonna ask. Not right now.</p>
<p>“I do remember you being ticklish everywhere,” Ben said, leading Klaus to the bed without him realizing it. “Let’s get you laughing.”</p>
<p>He was being tickled by a ghost. How wild was his life?</p>
<p>Ben had only been poking at him for a couple of seconds, seemingly unsure of how to even use his suddenly useful hands, but Klaus was already giggling. Yes, <em>giggling</em>. Had Ben not seen him in every embarrassing moment of his life, he might’ve blushed at the thought of him hearing it. But this was <em>Ben</em>. Not Diego. Not Allison, or the rest. Even in life he’d never judged.</p>
<p>Yeah, he was getting way too sappy over a one sided tickle fight. He was aware.</p>
<p>“Shit!”</p>
<p>Ben seemed to get the hang of it quickly, or maybe Klaus was just that sensitive. He was trapped between him and the headboard, his own flailing hands being pushed away by Ben’s free one, the other one dancing up his bare midriff. Dave had tickled him the first time because of his habit of “never wearing shirts that fit”, and the bare skin had just been too tempting. Now Klaus was grateful for it. Crop tops had not failed him once.</p>
<p>Ben pushed the shirt up even more, getting his ribs, sides, hips. Spots Klaus hadn’t considered ticklish until he’d gotten properly tickled. He would’ve felt more exposed and vulnerable, but no one ever even attempted to poke him, and so he’d kept it up for so long that it became his standard way of being. To have someone - Dave, and now Ben - take advantage of it was lovely, in a way he couldn’t properly understand.</p>
<p>Maybe he didn’t need to understand everything anyway.</p>
<p>“Does this feel good?”</p>
<p>Klaus was in such a state of hysterics that it took a moment for him to realize his brother wasn’t teasing him, but genuinely wanted to know if he was doing a good job.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he choked out, head thrown back with a hand gripping Ben’s wrist. “Yes, but I’m dying- ah, no!”</p>
<p>Ben had taken advantage of their hands being connected and raised his, thus raising Klaus’. He’d twisted his body to get at the exposed armpit, and Klaus instantly let go of him and slammed it down. He felt his shirt rising even more as he slid down the bed, nearly lying down now, and still giggling like a goddamn idiot.</p>
<p>Ben paused, letting him breathe. “This is fun,” he said. “Your reactions are funny.”</p>
<p>“You’re good at this,” Klaus replied, panting. “Wouldn’t it be so funny if no one could see you, but you could tickle people and confuse them.”</p>
<p>“Don’t give me ideas.”</p>
<p>He moved toward him suddenly, making Klaus recoil, arms raised and ready to defend himself.</p>
<p>Ben laughed. “I should do it to you.”</p>
<p>“You’d make people think I was still high.”</p>
<p>“But it’d be fun.” He poked Klaus’ palm. “What spot do you want me to do now?”</p>
<p>“Uh.” Of all the times Klaus had to go shy, it had to be now. “I don’t know. People don’t usually ask.”</p>
<p>“Well, people don’t usually ask to be tickled either.”</p>
<p>“As far as you’re aware.”</p>
<p>“Fair. So?”</p>
<p>Klaus averted his gaze. “Knees? If you can avoid my kicking feet.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take care of your kicking feet, don’t worry.”</p>
<p>Klaus briefly wondered if he’d conjure up the tentacles to keep him in place, but Ben merely grabbed his shin and scribbled his fingers behind his knee, pushing the leg back down each time Klaus tried to thrash.</p>
<p>It was torture. Beautiful ticklish torture.</p>
<p>And suddenly Ben’s hand went straight through him. Yeah, that wasn’t traumatic at all.</p>
<p>“You stopped concentrating,” Ben said easily, sitting up as Klaus calmed down.</p>
<p>“<em>Dammit</em>. How am I supposed to concentrate while I’m laughing?”</p>
<p>Ben’s hand was still on his knee, the fingers poking out on the other side. He wiggled them, and Klaus frowned.</p>
<p>“That feels weird.”</p>
<p>“Does it hurt?”<br/><br/>“No. It almost feels ticklish, but I think it might be the ghost tickles.”</p>
<p>“Oh, ha ha.”</p>
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